Ani
Ani is a Hound who is currently co-ruler and Gabriela of the Shadow Court. __TOC__ Biography Early Life Ani spent her earliest childhood living with her mother, Jillian, and her older sister Tish. Her first complete memory was when her mother hid both her and her sister in a cupboard in their house when a faceless man invaded their home. Jillian never returned to let the girls out, and Ani assumed that she had been murdered, because she believed that Jillian would have come back to them if she had lived. Ani and Tish came out of the cupboard themselves and called Irial, who took them to a new home with Rabbit in the shop Pins and Needles. As Ani grew she began to notice the differences between herself and Tish, though she never voiced them aloud. The two sisters were extremely close, so much so that they started school together. ''Ink Exchange'' Ani first appears as a friend to Leslie. She and Tish hang out with her often as Leslie stops by Pins and Needles a lot, though they never reveal to her their half-faery heritage. They have full knowledge that Leslie's tattoo will bind her to Irial in an ink-exchange, but never object to it because they trust Irial to look after Leslie and hope that the ink-exchange will save their court from starving. During the finals stages of the ink-exchange process, Irial finds Ani feeding on his emotions. Ani reveals to him that she can feed from both mortals and faeries, and that she has both the hunger for emotions and skin-hunger. As a result of this, Ani is sent to live with Gabriel's Hounds, as she is too fey now for Rabbit to control. After Leslie breaks the link between herself and Irial, Ani and Tish both visit her and forgive her for choosing to leave the Dark Court. ''Fragile Eternity'' Ani appears in the epilogue of the novel, when Seth approaches Niall to ask him to let him train with the Hounds. She voices objections to helping Seth, saying that 'supporting the High Court’s need for order is not ''what’s best for the Dark Court'. In his narration, Seth comments that Ani has dreams of chaos which her court restricts. ''Radiant Shadows Ani tries to convince a Hound to ride with her, to help her sate her emotion- and skin-hunger, but is stopped by Gabriel. Ani and Gabriel talk about Gabriel’s failings as a father and Ani’s mortality. Ani voices frustration about the many rules Gabriel imposes on her, and her desire to be treated like one of the pack and not like a fragile mortal. Gabriel regretfully maintains that because she is half-mortal she is too fragile to be truly a part of his pack or even lead it, but too Hound-like to be able to live fully in the mortal world like Rabbit and Tish. As a result of the conversation, Gabriel lets Ani ride Chela’s steed during the Wild Hunt that night. The next day, Ani goes to Irial’s home, to withdraw blood from her veins to use in blood tests. That same night, Ani has a 'Rae-dream'. Ani replays a memory of her as a child asking Tish about her mother, something which she does often in her dreams. Ani admits to Rae that she is worried about being separated from Tish, that it feels wrong. In the dream her thoughts automatically conjure an illusion of a faceless fairy reaching for herself and Tish, hands covered in blood swinging at Rabbit and her mother, Jillian, lying dead outside a cupboard. Rae tells Ani that the illusion isn’t real, that she has no idea what happened to Jillian that day, but Ani argues that if Jillian were alive, she would have come home to them long ago. Rae quickly soothes Ani’s turmoil, and asks how her life with the Hounds is going. Ani admits her frustrations about Gabriel’s rules and her longing to truly belong with the pack: ‘I want a steed; I want to be stronger; I want… oh… I want everything.’ Ani is convinced that the ‘monster’ who took Jillian from her is High Court, as that court is known for taking away halflings and mortals that interest them. Rae argues that monsters are only monsters to those who are doing the naming; Ani only says that the man definitely wasn’t from the Dark Court. As Rae watches Ani crouches, surrounded by wolves, and the wolves leap towards her, dive into her center and disappear there. Physical appearance Ani is short, with light-brown hair. Her hair is shorter in the back so her pink-tipped hair frames her face. Her eyes turn green when she's emotional like all hounds. Personality Abilities Relationships Devlin Tish Rae Irial Gabriel Rabbit Jillian Category:Characters Category:Halflings Category:Hounds Category:Monarch Category:Shadow Court